Worship for Easter - Death & Resurrection
This blog exists to help fuel our worship - to help us see and savor God as the greatest treasure in all of existence! We'll be posting playlists of songs and a brief reflection on particular issues related to worship. Be sure to check out the links to the playlist below.
Easter. It has become a holiday marked by Cadbury eggs, chocolate bunnies, and Easter egg hunts. Or, perhaps, a less commercialized version, full of fond memories and experiences with family or going out for a fancy Sunday brunch. Whatever Easter calls to mind for you, it’s extremely easy to drift away from the heart of this distinctly Christian holiday. Which is crazy, because for us as the Church, this holiday is at the very heart of what we believe about Jesus! (1 Cor 15:1-19)
Leading up to Easter, we recall the final moments of Jesus’ life. As He humbly entered Jerusalem, adored by the people (Mark 11:1-11); as, just one week later, He was tragically betrayed and brutally murdered at the cross by those very same people (Mark 15:6-15); and as He was eventually placed in the tomb — the Author of life Himself cold, dead and lifeless (Mark 15:33-46).
Yet, the story does not end there. Though King Jesus was crucified and laid in darkness, the Light of life would rise from the grave! By the Spirit, Jesus fiercely asserted His authority over Death and its power! (Mark 16:1-8)
Indeed, this claim — that Christ was crucified for our sin, that He was buried, and that He was raised from the dead — is at the heart of the Christian life (1 Cor 15:3-4).
The resurrection of Jesus means that death no longer has the last word; it has been defeated! The resurrection of Jesus offers hope in the midst of a broken, fallen and sin-ridden world, because the resurrection is an intentional and decisive blow against sin and its birth child, Death (Is. 25:8-9; Rom. 6:3-14).
The Resurrection of Jesus is the clear breaking in of God’s future kingdom to our present experience. No longer are we forced to give in to sin, brokenness and defeat. Why? Because our greatest enemies of sin, death and darkness were themselves broken & defeated when the crucified Jesus got up and walked out of the tomb!! (Heb. 2:14-15)
Y’all, this is earth-shattering and life-altering. This is Good News, and it is why we worship!
So during this in-between time — this time between Jesus’ past resurrection and His future coming — may we not functionally live as though nothing actually happened.
May we fulfill our task in the present, as N.T. Wright says, “…to live as resurrection people in between Easter and the final day, with our Christian life…as a sign of the first and a foretaste of the second.” (Surprised by Hope, 29-30).
Yes. Let us, with our lives and in our worship, celebrate & proclaim the powerful resurrection of Jesus Christ. For in so doing, we implement Easter and anticipate His final coming!
